Williams-Sonoma — Local services in Lynnfield

I got married in summer 2021 and we were gifted 3 identical flatware sets. In Jan 2022 I got around to the Lynnfield store to exchange the sets for something that matched what we had. I left with 1 set and 2 more on back order for store pickup (so I wouldn’t have to pay extra for shipping). By November 2022 I hadn’t heard anything so I called the store to check in and was told they were still on back order. I was told I would be notified as soon as they came in. On Sept 14 2023 I got a voicemail that “they had finally arrived from when I shopped back in 2021”. I arrived today to pick up and was was told that they had been reaching out to me for a year and since I hadn’t picked them up they put the sets on the floor and sold them. The best they could do is a store credit since they are again back ordered until March. When I asked when and how they reach out to me they waved a stack of papers and said they had reached out so many times over the past year, but wouldn’t let me see the notes. Funny because the voicemail on Sept 14 saying “they finally arrived” was the first I had heard anything which is an odd way to let a customer know their merchandise has apparently been sitting on a shelf for “a year”. I’m not mad at the store for supply chain issues, and the sales associates were fine. The (shift) manager was not willing to talk about it and eager to gaslight me that I had apparently failed to retrieve my items, then the sales associate refused to place another order for me. If my things did arrive a year ago they better figure out how to leave voicemails stating such (I have my voicemails back to 2021) and if it arrived 3 weeks ago they need to make it clear that your items will be held for a very short time then sold. Either way it was an experience that made me never want to deal...

(The one star was only selected because it's required to post a review.). My husband purchased a gift for me from this store with cash. Three days later, I decided to return the unopened item with the original receipt, but the manager at this store refused to issue me a cash refund or credit my debit/credit card because the company policy is "cash refunds over $100 will only be issued as a company check that may take up to 14 BUSINESS days." Aside from being irked that W.S. gets the privilege of earning interest on my money for three weeks while they hold my refund hostage and get around to issuing a paper check ... WELCOME BACK TO THE 1970s EVERYONE ... I'm royally irked that this ridiculous refund policy was not disclosed to my husband prior to making this purchase (otherwise he would have used his card)! When I informed the store manager that Massachusetts Law requires that refund policies must be clearly and conspicuously demonstrated to the consumer PRIOR to a sales transaction, she scurried over to grab the little sign hidden behind another cash register 6 feet away and pointed out the fine print on the mile-long sales receipt given to my husband after he made the cash purchase. Evidently, the manager of the Williams-Sonoma in Lynnfield believes she doesn't have to comply with the law because she still refused to give me a refund. Hopefully, my emails to Corporate and the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office will straighten out that little problem to protect other consumers. I, for one, will never shop at...

What a miserable experience. My husband bought me a wine chiller for my birthday, and I wanted to exchange it for a different style. I called to make sure they had the one I wanted in stock. They did, so I got my 6 month old in the car and drove out of the city to make the exchange. Surprise surprise, they didn’t have the one that i wanted (“Ah, maybe someone bought it??” whined the unhelpful manager. Unlikely. And don’t you think a competent person would have set it aside for a customer who said that they would be right in??)

The exchange took forever because, in 2021, Williams Sonoma still can’t reconcile an online purchase with an in-store exchange. And then, the piece de resistance, I can’t make the exchange because my birthday gift was delivered more than 30 days ago. We thought that the return window was 90 days, but was informed that if the item had been delivered 1 day later, it would be eligible. Alas, it wasn’t, and nothing was to be done, because, unlike modern retailers, Williams Sonoma merely empowers their retail employees to aggravate and annoy customers, not help them.

We’ve had a smattering of issues across all of the Williams Sonoma brands, exacerbated by return policies that seem designed to make the process as difficult as possible and leave you with a loathsome feeling towards the brand. If that’s the case, they’ve exceeded all expectations, and as sad as I am to swear off this brand, I can’t see myself making another purchase, despite the fact that I’ve shopped here regularly for...